Christine Erickson

Why does Sioux Falls struggle so much with open government?

Many in the media are wondering why Mayor Paul doesn’t hold regular press conferences where the media can ask questions. Sorry folks, have to head to my kid’s soccer game.

I have often argued that this should be one of the easiest things our local government officials do – open the books! We already have the laws in place that allow government in South Dakota to open the books as much as they want to, with only a handful of things that are not allowable (and are clearly defined).

It often baffles me when I watch the video above or hear a local official say this (Sioux Falls City Councilor Erickson is referring to a conversation she had on Wednesday with Mayor TenHaken about communication);

“Help me understand this. Where was the communication breakdown, and how can we do better for you guys (city councilors)?”

I mean, if you have to ask, you are apparently either NOT fit to lead, or acting naive on purpose to hide things. I think it is a little of both.

When leaders fail at the simplest of tasks, it clearly shows they are NOT prepared for the job and should resign.

I drive past the Mayor’s office every weekday going to work (about 7:45 AM) and again going home (about 4:45 PM) and it is always dark. Why do we need city hall security for a mayor that doesn’t show up to his office?

Patrick Lalley Show, Episodes 8-9

I’m a little behind on these, but had a chance to listen today. Episode 8 with Sioux Falls City Councilor Erickson is interesting. If you FF to about 18:40 you will hear Lalley ask about the Bunker Ramp. Erickson tries everything in her power to blowoff the important questions, she even asks Pat at one point to change the topic. Erickson said that it really couldn’t be stopped (construction) because they signed a contract. Pat quickly pointed out that the city could have defaulted on the contract and just paid a penalty. He also pointed out that it is ‘ugly’. She slithered thru the questioning.

Citizen Advocate gets arrested after a landlord tells her she is best friends with Council Chair Erickson

What doesn’t appear on the video is Sierra being arrested on public property (sidewalk) for filming a property that has already had legal problems. (FULL VIDEO HERE) The massage parlor in the background had a person working their without a massage license and I believe she didn’t have a work visa either. The landlord calling Sierra ‘Crazy’ doesn’t seem to be to concerned that illegal activity is going on on her property. She then lies to the police that Sierra was trying to come into the place of business. While Sierra did walk around the parking lot, she filmed the rest of it from the public sidewalk. She was arrested for trespassing based on testimony from the landlord who claims she has ‘Erickson’ on her side. What is sad is that this lady decided to drag in a city councilor on this (the council has no authority over the police force, that is under the executive branch, mayor). If I was Council Chair Erickson I would NOT be to pleased that her name was being used this way.

UPDATE: Chickensh*t vote of the night; Sioux Falls City Council Chair Christine Erickson

There are two kinds of animals on the city council, Reindeers and Chickens.

With zero explanation or discussion, councilors Selberg, Kiley, Soehl, Erickson and Mayor TenHaken voted to leave the 50+1 idiotic election practice former councilors Rolfing and Erpenbach pulled from their butts. While I understand 4 of the votes (elitists who want to keep regular folk off of the council) Erickson changed her vote from two years ago WITH NO EXPLANATION TO THE PUBLIC! I also found it funny that Rolfing Jr. (Kiley) was Chatty Cathy all night about the Philosophy of Rick but said nothing about why we need to keep this silly ordinance in place. Sorry Rick, while some reindeer can fly, chickens cannot.

She receives the Chickensh*t Vote of the Night award. She can CHANGE her vote if she wants to, but when you do it without explanation you move quickly from ruling the roost to just another peckerwood in the farmyard.

Congratulations on your ignorance and obvious vengeance on fellow councilors, because really without an explanation, that is exactly what you were doing tonight. Maybe you can get a job with the Noem administration? Not sure though if she would let you yell out “Oh My God” during a public meeting in your hot microphone. Funny how you had to call out God’s name when your personal business was questioned by a fellow councilor but you had ZERO to say about switching your vote tonight.

BaWch! BaWch! BaWch! but NO Cockadoodle-Doo!

UPDATE: Here’s her grand excuse;

Following the vote, Councilor Christine Erickson, who opposed raising the election threshold in 2017, told the Argus Leader she voted against reverting back to the old standard because changing election rules so frequently would be a disservice to voters and office seekers.

“It’s confusing for voters and candidates to continue to change this year to year,” she said.

Christine, I think I would have said nothing instead. There has been only ONE election since the rule changed, and in case you didn’t notice, the rule change wasn’t even used (Soehl and DeBoer would have to still have a runoff under the old rules). Most voters would not even have noticed it changed back. But nice try. Let’s call a spade a spade, it was a vengeance vote.

Is it time Air BNB operators in Sioux Falls start paying a BID tax?

The hotels in Sioux Falls of a certain size have to pay into the BID tax. If you are long term rentals you have to pay taxes. If you are an Air BNB operator you just pay sales taxes;

AirBnB owners must register their property with City Hall as a rental.

Renting out a private residence as a bed and breakfast in Sioux Falls comes with other requirements, including applying for a $250 conditional use permit, making the necessary accommodations for off-street parking, registering with the state health department and filing a site plan of their home with officials.

In 2015, city officials raised a red flag when they found about 30 AirBnBs operating as rentals while breaking the law.

Last year, the San Francisco-based tech company agreed to collect sales tax from South Dakota renters.

But as we are seeing, it is becoming a very lucrative business for those operating it in Sioux Falls. And who can blame them? You make much more money from short term renters AND they are pre-vetted before they stay. In fact Sioux Falls city councilor Erickson and her Realtor husband have continued to expand their Air BNB business since it has been introduced in Sioux Falls.

What do you think? Should there be a separate BID tax for short term renters since they really are NOT supplying housing like long-term renters and are acting more like a hotel.